Two New Lifers

It's my turn to update the blog - have a few pictures from our trip to Canaveral Seashore last Friday. I found two new shells that I hadn't had before. However, one I can't positively identify yet and the other one is not complete, but enough to know it was a Scotch Bonnet. I don't think it was common on the Gulf Side, but we found two half shells on the Atlantic side.

We also encountered a slow moving land turtle by the car. He hissed at us when we got too close and then crawled away into the bushes.

Did a fun project with my students today - we made an "I Spy" book. They worked with a partner, found all kinds of "stuff" around the classroom and composed a "collection" . Then they wrote five or six sentences like "Find the red bear," or "I spy a yellow balloon." I printed them up tonight and will get them laminated and bound tomorrow. They all worked hard for over an hour on it - here's one example:

Thanksgiving Bonanza

I have a billbergia saundersii that I bought from Tropifloral over a year ago. I had a beautiful flower shortly after I bought it, and then I had two new pups form. Those two pups flowered this week. The bad news is that billbergias seem to flower for just a short time; good news is that they are spectacular! If you look closely you can see the two pink sheaths on the plant sides of the flowers.





I "hard cultured" the saundersii in my lattice house and it seemed to like it. Only problem was when I wanted to bring the plant inside, I had to flood out the frog living in the bottom of the plant vase! He wasn't too happy, but I think he got over it. I put my billbergia Hallelujah in the lattice house, which gave Mr. Frog a new home. I'm also hoping that the hard culture outside will get my Hallelujah in gear with a flower.


We also have two gift (that means I
don't know their names!)
orchids from students blooming in the house right now. Not bad, huh? Happy Thanksgiving!

Just Breathe

Well, we made it to the Thanksgiving break and though we have two days of inservice ahead of us it sure feels like a week of vacation. My class was responsible for chapel this week, so I prepared three days worth of mini-challenges regarding Thanksgiving and intertwined it with some ECHO hunger issues and West Virginia Food for Children pictures and stories. It was well received - even have a few adults who might be interested in going to WV with us this summer. We're taking a collection from the school kids for the Food for Children project.
Friday my little ones had the program and they did very well. They said Psalm 100 in unison without a hitch and then sang three songs , one of which was illustrated by a powerpoint of their drawings. They were so cute in their little hats. Thursday was our Native American Pow-wow where we go to a park and dance around a paper fire and pretend we're Indians. This is not my idea since it gets a bit stereotypical but "we've been doing it since the Kdgn. started" so who am I to change an institution? When we got back we wrote down what we liked about the day and not one kid mentioned the "pow-wow". They all talked about the nature hike and the alligators they saw and the inchworms and butterflies. Hmmmm.....
After our two days at school Dad and I are looking forward to puttering around the house. I have some chairs to strip and refinish and we've planned out our Christmas decorations and are looking forward to putting that stuff up.
On Thursday we're going to be serving dinner at the Salvation Army for 3 1/2 hours and then if the weather is nice we're going to pack a

picnic and go to the seashore. Turkey sandwiches count for Thanksgiving dinner, right?
Thanks to all of you for the Birthday cards and phone calls. It was the kind of day I like - low key with a few thoughtful expressions from family and friends. My little ones were more excited that I about the birthday and one of them spilled the beans about a week ago when she said "What day are we supposed to bring you a flower?" Anyway, 55 feels very much like 54 though I'm counting more silver among the gold and noticing that I'm not winning the battle of the bulge.
And welcome aboard to son Bob - the latest member of the Bosscher bloggers! Don't be too hard on him to update frequently - remember what it was like when you were in college??

Travel Weekend

I had a good, quick trip to Grand Rapids this past weekend. The primary purpose was for Christian Schools International board meetings. The bonus was having supper with Bob, Kim, and Mike, and spending time with Mom and Art.


I took the Calvin kids out to Friday's for supper. We had a great time, got caught up on news, and finished off several pigs' worth of ribs.






We had good board meetings all day Friday and again on Saturday morning. I think our new CEO/executive director Dave Koetje is already doing exactly what the board hoped -- vision casting and creatively leading CSI into the 21st Century. Dave and wife Marla hosted a get-together for the board Friday night at their house. Marla and I were in band together at Calvin Christian HS many moons ago.


I spent Saturday afternoon with Mom & Art. We visited Aunt Marilyn at the nursing home and also went to see Uncle Howard and Aunt Doris. It was good to see them; health is a fragile thing. Uncle Howard is still recovering from his car accident in late January. Aunt Marilyn was pretty coherent. Art is still limping badly from his fall two Sundays ago. He was pretty game about getting out, though!

The best thing about the weekend? Seeing my Gayle drive up at the airport and getting home safely!

Nothing New

Lest we get comments about keeping our blog current- here's a new post. No pictures, not much happening, looking forward to Thanksgiving break, but no plans as yet. We've asked a few folks if they would like to join us, but it seems everyone has somewhere to go. Maybe we'll just go to the beach and have turkey sandwiches, who knows? Dad just got home from Michigan and we're getting ready for another school week. Maybe next week, after my class does chapel in their cute little Pilgrim and Indian costumes, I'll have something to post.